Knife Shine
by spongecake 2
Summary: What is your life now? When you must throw away all you cherish to get all you need? When to exact vengeance you must betray those he hurt to hurt him back? The answers lie at the King of Iron Fist Tournament Five, Benni, but you might not like them.
1. Barren

**Knife Shine**

_Disclaimer - Beat me down all you like, babe, but my scooter will always ride; long after you die, long after I die, long after everyone dies, my scooter will be riding still_

**Author's Note – Well, if anything is a bad idea, then writing a sequel to something you finished two years ago is up there with feeding a lion with your own hand.**

**Also a bad idea; waiting to update until the document you've been working on for quite a while goes poopy. Yes, it's another fic that you'll rarely see updates for, because my absolute bastard of a machine isn't playing fair. To be fair, it was only one more chapter than this, but god knows how long it took to write... R****ant over, I'm sorry, just a little bit bitter. sigh**

**So, this is how it's going to work.**

**For those not in the know, this is a sequel to a previous work of mine called Stockholm Syndrome. However, I want this to be accessable to new readers, partially because this way it's more appealing but mostly because Stockholm Syndrome is kind of shit. I'll leave it up, but I'm going to be taking major liberties, so be warned. Nothing is written in stone.**

**Anyway, so people aren't left out not knowing what happened last time, I will be putting introductions for each OC and the events of Stockholm Syndrome at the end of the first few chapters, but not in this one because otherwise it will be so long no one will read it (too late OH SNAP). I may be asking people around (mainly Razer Athane and SeungSeiRan, the only people who read and enjoyed the original) for help with the summaries, but the majority are already written and thank god they were saved elsewhere because they've taken a long fucking time too.**

**Anyway, I'm rambling now, and this chapter is already uninvitingly long, so I'll shut up and let you enjoy.****Chapter 1**

* * *

_**Chapter 1 - Barren**_

The Remains of the Hon Maru

Four Days after the Explosion

Cold swept along the grey sand as it whipped up dramatically and easily into the wind. The day was equally murky, with the clouds too strong for even the sun to break, forcing the rays of sunlight to retreat into the sky, leaving the barren wasteland alone for the time being. Barren was an appropriate word. There was nothing for miles around, as if the landscape had been systematically destroyed, as the theories of various investigators supposed, but the man who stood in the centre of this monochrome crater knew what had happened and only needed to know why and more importantly how. After seen what he had seen, the dancing flames, the great blasts, the continued and rapid spread of purple lightning Raven was sure that this was the last place to be 'barren' but everything must end, he supposed.

Even the grandiose inferno that took place here. He ran through the video files over and over again whenever he could, but his recordings revealed nothing new. He had seen everything**.** There was nothing else, and there never would be. Six went in. Four left. What didn't make sense to either Raven or his superiors was not that four left. It was that three _didn't. _No matter how Raven saw it, it just didn't add up. His white teeth dug slightly into his ebony lips as he pressed the side of his sunglasses, pushing the Play-Back-Recording button lightly.

2234, Jin is taken to the Hon Maru by an unidentified Hawk Rank Tekken Force solider. The soldier was colossal, but that was his only defining trait as far as evidence went. He could've known everything that there was to know, but chances were that he didn't, what with his blank stare of gormless idiocy and the fact that he had accidentally bumped into nine trees while looking directly at them. However, he left as soon as he came. Two go in. One leaves, one still in the Hon Maru.  
**  
**2341, two more, Heihachi and Kazuya Mishima, father and son, go in. They are followed silently and carefully by another, a Hawk Tekken Force soldier, but not the same one as before, shorter and probably smarter, not really saying much though. Now three go in. Four in the Hon Maru.  
**  
**2342, a third Hawk Soldier, taller, goes in. Now there are five, Jin, Kazuya, Heihachi and two Hawk soldiers. Then the Hon Maru begins to explode, with Jin and Kazuya escaping hastily. That's three inside when the Hon Maru bursts into a grand flare, and three who have left beforehand. Three dead. Three alive.

So where did the other one come from?

It was a little later after the explosion started when Raven saw… it. The figure that rose from the very middle of the flame. He couldn't get a good look at the figure, only able to decipher the facts that he was huge, bigger even than the large Hawk soldier than before, and that he seemed to be fuelling the flames, even turning the nearest to him purple and pink and blue and all the coldest colours you could imagine, which oddly enough had the greatest heat. The figure vanished as soon as he came, and both Raven and his superiors were curious. They had attempted to come back earlier, but the site was under a complete lockdown for the next three days.  
**  
**The Tekken Force was bigger than the rumours, some two hundred, and the elusive acting CEO of the Mishima Zaibatsu, the ultimate commander of the Tekken Force, a certain 'Mr Drive', was avoiding both questions and indeed anyone, revealing only that he would take over the Zaibatsu until a suitable CEO could be found. When reminded of Kazuya Mishima, Lee Chaolan and Jin Kazama, Mr Drive ignored the subject like the plague, going so far as to claim that all three were long dead. The Nest, as the heads of Raven's operation were called, did not take kindly to this news. They had dealt with Mr Drive before. It was said that he once was one of them. Whether it was true or not, Raven had heard many stories about him. He was not one to be trifled with lightly. Heron and Cranehad set out personally to 'convince' him that it was in both their best interests to let Raven investigate the site. That was three days ago. Finally, the lockdown lifted, and though Raven thought it'd be redundant to go seeing that if there was anything of any important, the Tekken Force would've already removed it, he obeyed the orders to go investigate. He stood with uncharacteristic ease. He was bored with this work. Nothing was going to occur or be discovered, he knew this, but here he was.

"Agent Raven."

Raven's head whipped around, recognising the stern voice. A young woman stood there, her arms crossed and her face covered by a face-mask, though her green eyes weren't covered by the standard sunglasses, instead free to pierce right into Raven with a cold glare. Her red hair remained unhampered, in a short ponytail that just reached her neck and spikes along the fringe that stayed just above her crown. She wore the same clothes as Raven did, if a little smaller to accommodate to her short and stocky stature - a sleeveless black top with matching trousers. Simple. Efficient. Just like her, really. Though why she was here, Raven couldn't decipher. She wouldn't accompany other agents without prior acknowledgement. This caused Raven to tense up slightly, excited by the prospect of actually having something to do. If he had to leave, the Nest would've contacted him, but sending her? Something was up, and Raven was curious. "Glad to see you too, Sparrow." Raven finally answered. "Nice to see that the youthful still have a modicum of tact."

"Spare it, Raven." Sparrow said. "The Nestsent me here, with Crane." Raven was surprised.

"Crane and Heron are back?" He asked. They had been gone for three days. He was sure that Mr Drive had them 'disappear', otherwise they would've gone so long. But they were back? After so long? What new developments are coming, Raven asked himself. "What did they discover?" He asked this question aloud rather than introspectively. Sparrow began to walk over.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. He's just looking for a CEO, just like he said. His Tekken Forces were looking for bodies. He mentioned that Heihachi wouldn't allow any of his three heirs to actually take over, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to work that one out. Crane said that Mr Drive was being too crafty to be innocent, but absolutely nothing that we didn't know already was discovered."

"It took those two three days to find that much?" Raven asked. "What were they doing? Sitting around in Mr Drive's office playing cards? Why couldn't they get us clearance to come here?

"That's what Crane was worried about. He asked Mr Drive over and over and over, but from what he's told us about the guy, he must be some kind of machine. Every question, every query, he just seemed to have a pre-prepared excuse. No matter what he brought up, even about what was underneath the Hon Maru or what caused the explosion to grow so large from what seemed to be just one bomb, he'd simply give a complex excuse. He just would not slip up."

"Didn't they simply check his computer files or get any top secret information?"

"Oh, they did. Plenty of B and E, hacking… they were considering simply beating Mr Drive to near death until he talked

"And?"

"Corporate sales and heart surgery research." Raven's eyebrows raised.

"Heart surgery?" He asked. Sparrow nodded.

"Apparently, Mr Drive's nuts about it. Even asked Crane what his blood type was…" Suddenly, a loud beep emitted. Sparrow's eyes pulled away from Raven for a second. "Speaking of Crane…" Raven looked around, his ears picking up a distant banging. "Crane, this is Sparrow, I read you…" He heard gunshots. He was certain of it. "… what do you mean…" He looked to the north, walking over slightly as the gunshots became more frequent and energetic, the sounds once only penetrating the silence slightly, but now he was listening, he could hear accompanied screams and some frenzied commands. "… who's shooting at what…" Raven looked to Sparrow. "Could you repeat what you… what… Crane, come in! Crane! For fuck's sake, come in… shit…" She murmured under her breath, before looking back to him. "He's stuck in a fire-fight."

"I heard." Raven said. He looked to the north, following his ears more than his eyes. "This way." The two ran as quickly as they could, their footsteps silent as they sped to the scene. The gunshots became louder with each step, grand blam-blams that made Raven's ears ring. The two came close to the scene, hiding behind some rubble. They looked to each other. "We observe. We only intervene if Crane is in mortal danger." Sparrow nodded, before looking up.

It was a messy scene already, with about ten or so dead bodies in the black armour of the Tekken Force soldiers, though about four or five of them with red helmets. The helmets of Owls, the best soldiers there were. Crane wasn't among the dead bodies. He was in the centre of a slight crater, a tall, grey haired figure who was trying to avoid the crossfire as much as possible, but it was the blonde haired man that caught the attention of Raven and Sparrow. He didn't stand still, running around like a freight train, while six Tekken Force soldiers backed away, firing their rifles in a vague direction, hoping to hit the moving figure. He moved much faster though, and he caught up with one of the soldiers. The soldier threw his rifle at him in desperation, hoping to buy some time to prepare a commando knife. The blonde haired man spun as he moved forward, suddenly punching the floor, as a great scything object soared over his head and straight through the gun, splitting it in half. As he rose, he threw another of the same object into the approaching soldier. As it embedded itself into the soldier's chest, Raven saw that it was a knife, and an unusual one at that. It was custom-made, made from a simple kitchen knife, but it had a small slit carved into it, that let the soldier's blood run along it with eased. The end without the blade was serrated, and the handle was connected to a large rope that the blonde haired man pulled vigorously on. The knife escaped the soldier's now dead body as it dropped to the floor, with the knife already trailing behind the moving figure as he began to approach the next soldier in a zigzag pattern. The soldier panicked, dropping his gun and running. The blonde haired man sent one of his knives into the nearest calf. The man tripped, falling on his stomach. He turned to the blonde haired man as he sent his second knife into another soldier.

The other three stopped firing, all collectively realising that running away from this madness was the last option. They all turned, but the blonde haired man was two steps ahead, throwing his arms across his chest, sending the knives into all three of them, slashing across their necks and heads, splitting through helmets and armour and killing without mercy. Crane stood up slowly, but he dropped to the floor as soon as he did. Sparrow seethed as she saw Crane's leg wound. She looked to Raven.

"We have to help him." She said as the blonde haired man approached Crane, dragging the live Tekken Force soldier, a green helmeted Falcon, behind him by the calf using his knife. Raven shook his head.

"I think I know that man…" He murmured, pressing the Play-Back-Recording on his sunglasses. He rewound the tape until he got the information he wanted. He looked to the third Hawk to go into the Hon Maru, and compared.  
**  
**The hair was certainly different. In the film, it was light brown, reaching the shoulders but only just. The man who now threw Crane onto the floor next to the Tekken soldier had incredibly short hair, but Raven could quite clearly that it was clumsily cut. He had obviously done it with his knife as it jutted out awkwardly, and now he had stopped running around and fighting, Raven saw that the hair had been dyed with equal lack of understanding of how hair works. Everything else was simple and easy to see. It was quite clearly the same man. The face was darkened quite a bit from burn marks, tans and scars, but that only seemed to amplify the fatigue and weariness of his scowling face. His eyebrows were heavy and dangerous, and his left eye was a cold calculating blue. His right eye was covered with a black eye patch, while before both eyes were fine. He stood quite short, not much taller than five foot, but he seemed a lot taller with his dominating and slow walk. He was also thin, his bones easily visible through his skin, but he still looked strong. The clothes he wore were shredded to the point of ridicule. They could've been black, blue or even a bright pink before, but currently they were all a dull and dirty grey. His jacket barely hung on his shoulders like a rag, his shirt was missing both sleeves and much of his chest, revealing his scarred abdomen. His trousers were also ripped apart, with the right leg simply burnt completely away and the left looking little better. His boots weren't really boots anymore, looking more like thick sandals. If it weren't for the fact that he had just killed at least fifteen armed gun-toting soldiers with just his knives, or for the expression on his face, one that was regularly associated with bears, he would've looked absolutely absurd. Raven looked to Sparrow.

"I don't think he's going to kill Crane." He told her. "Not yet, anyway. We'll let him interrogate Crane, see what he actually wants, then we go in before he has a chance to escape." Sparrow was about to object, but she sighed. She knew that it made sense. They looked over the rubble they hid behind cautiously, as Crane and the Falcon were forced into a seated position.

"Right…" Came the voice of the blonde haired man. It was an incredibly low growl, a typical Mediterranean rumble. He pulled the Falcon to his knees. ".. you. How long has it been?"

"Since… s-s-since when?" The Falcon stammered.

"Oh, I don't know, just pick a date**!**" The blonde haired man answered. "Like, I don't know, Christmas, or July the third, or how about _the explosion?"_ With these words, he pulled the Falcon off the ground, effortlessly lifting him off the floor with one arm.

"F-four days…"

"And who's taken over the Mishima Zaibatsu in Heihachi's place?"

"Mr Drive! He's taking orders from some guy! He won't say who!" The Falcon screamed. "PLEASE LET ME GO! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE!" He was tossed away without effort, slamming onto the cold grey floor. He rolled in pain as his leg bled heavily. His eyes were hidden behind the helmet; though he was sure his attacker still looked through the visor and could see his eyes with the one eyed glare.

"Tell Mr Drive that Heihachi Mishima is alive, if only just." The blonde haired man ordered, barking like a drill sergeant. "He's in capable hands. Tell him that J sent you. And tell _only_ Mr Drive. Go!" The Falcon nervously hesitated at this demand, before leaving as hastily as his wounded leg could take him. Crane moaned in pain.

"J…" He moaned. "… I remember you." J's gaze rested on him now.

"And you. Who do you work for?" He asked. Crane looked up.

"I saw you in the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4…" Crane murmured wearily. "I won a lot of money thanks to you." He suddenly got a hard smack as J's fist whirled around and slammed into his cheek.

"Answer the question." He stated. Crane tried to stall for time.

"You lost to your sister… Liz, isn't it?" He asked. He braced himself for the next fist, closing his eyes and turning the hardest part of his cheek to J, but it didn't come. Crane opened one eye. J squatted to his level, reaching his hand out to Crane's face. "…dinner and a movie first, alright?" J sneered, before suddenly slamming the hand straight onto Crane's ear, pulling at the earpiece he wore. He snapped it away before standing at full height. He held the earpiece like a microphone, curling his fingers around the tiny electrical sphere.

"Sparrow, wasn't it?" He asked. Sparrow gasped from behind the rubble. "You don't know me, but I have your friend with me. I've politely asked him a few questions, but he's being rude, and I'm guessing that he and therefore you both know what happens when somebody isn't being very cooperative, so I want you to tell me who you are working for." He scanned the surrounding area, before turning to Crane. "You better hope your friend is in a better mood than you, other you'll have to pay for it." While he said this, Sparrow looked to Raven.

"I'm giving you full control of the situation." She told him. "I'm going to answer his questions, on condition that he answers mine. He'll be listening to me, so you can get him without worry of him attacking you. I'll only tell him about what us three are doing here. I'm schdum about The Nest, Heron and Crane." Raven silently agreed, looking to J. He was turned away. Raven moved slowly, silently, as Sparrow began her conversation. "What do I call you?"

"J, for now." Came the answer. The voice was slightly taken aback. "I really shouldn't be surprised…"

"By a woman?" Sparrow asked. "I get it a lot."

"Surprised by how much you sound like..." J glanced in Raven's direction, but Raven had seen this coming and was behind another, closer piece of rubble. "… it doesn't matter right now. Right now, I want to know who you two are." He continued to idly scan the grey scenery.

"We are investigating the Hon Maru explosion." Sparrow began to explain. "We were observing Heihachi Mishima and his heirs when the explosion occurred. We saw something emerge from underneath the Hon Maru, however. Something that caused the explosion to grow rapidly. The Hon Maru was only the size of a standard building, and was only one storey high, while the explosion sight has eradicated all trace of life and is miles across. That's dangerous, and we want that danger leashed." She paused, looking as Raven came within leaping distance of J. "I've answered your question. Now you can either answer my questions, or let Crane go."

"Don't I get two questions?" He asked. Sparrow sneered slightly.

"Why do you want two questions?"

"Because I have two of your friends." Unexpectedly, J's knives slashed around in a dangerous arc, striking at a stunned Raven like scorpion's tails dancing together. "Next time you formulate a plan, you should make sure your comm isn't still on." He threw the knives back towards him, catching them between his fists. "So shall I take a wild stab in the dark and assume you're named after another bird? And I'd like to know a bit about this 'Nest' of yours."

"Maybe you should answer one of her questions." Raven warned J. "You may live to see your sister again if you do." J's hands wrapped tightly around the hilts of the knives. "Even if you've incapacitated Crane, you're still outnumbered." As he said this, Sparrow revealed herself and approached. "You will surrender now."

"In case you didn't notice..." J gestured to the collection of dead bodies. In total, fifteen, just like Raven's estimate. "What makes you think that two of you will make a damn bit of difference?" As he said this, he flung his left knife towards Raven at blinding speed. Raven pulled himself onto his shoulder, spinning under the rope and slicing it with his own knives, sending the deadly tip hurtling harmlessly away. "OK, I suppose that's a start." J murmured. He then stamped onto his left foot, having spun on his right, escaping Raven's path as a flying kick was sent to him. He kept spinning, bringing his left knee into Raven's chest. Raven winced as his lungs leapt to his throat, and staggered back avoiding J's wild stab.

_Damn it… _Raven seethed. _… I forgot he had two of them. _"So, J, I suppose you know who was in the Hon Maru when the explosion occurred." He deflected two quick jabs, before suddenly having a knife forced against his neck. He moved backwards, but J's feet imitated his own, sidestepping and twisting hither and thither. He even managed to imitate Raven's slight stumble with an eloquent mastery, always keeping that blade a centimetre away, closer if need be.

"Haven't the slightest." He answered as he moved, keeping a firm concentration on Raven's body pattern, his steps, the twists of his legs, the bends of his knees. "Though, I should tell you that there was more than one floor."

"It was a one-storey high building…" Raven began.

"Underground, bird-breath." J told him. "Surely you could've pieced that together. Along with your imminent fall."

"What are you…" Suddenly Raven was fed into J's bony fingers as he tripped on a suddenly advancing foot. The left hand caught the back of Raven's neck and spun him, feeding his knife back onto Raven's windpipe. The arms had curled under Raven's and pulled back, locking them out has his legs did the same. The left knee pushed onto the inside sharply, both an immature and painful insult and a method of making Raven didn't just drop his weight and cause to move his guard.

"You should've remembered that I learnt how to trip people up like that in Moscow."

"I didn't know you had in the first place."

"Well… how would 'enjoy your trip' be, then?"

"Cliché, but at least it makes sense." Raven said. "I know something you should've remembered." He watched with some smugness as J's eyes widened in shocked recognition.

"Way ahead of you." He shouting, forcing Raven away and throwing his hand in a great scything motion, just catching Sparrow's side. However, this was too long to allow Raven to prepare an attack. J learnt this when a foot cracked harshly into his forehead. He stumbled backwards, leaving himself open for another attack as both Sparrow and Raven kicked out at him. He was flung back, dropping his second knife. Raven pushed his foot onto the rope, making sure the knife was out of his reach.

"Give up, J." He said as J stood to full height, spitting onto the grey earth. "You lost your weapons. Come with us and we will not hurt you." J looked to each fist, before clenching them and taking up a new stance.

"Have I now?" He said, raising his fists. Raven and Sparrow showed their own fists. Suddenly, J put his mouth to his throat to cough. An unconscious movement, a habit he hadn't noticed he had picked up. Raven prepared to run and attack while J was so open.

"Raven, this is The Nest. Withdraw with Sparrow and Crane and go to the Mishima Zaibatsu Main Offices. Repeat. Withdraw from the premises. Go to Mishima Zaibatsu immediately. Over."

The voice pierced the tense noise as Raven stood in shock at these commands. Withdraw? Now? With a possible lead within his grasp? He activated the earpiece to respond. "Nest, this is Raven. Please verify commands. Over."

"The Nest to Raven. The Tekken Force Soldier mentioned Mr Drive was taking orders. Investigate immediately. Over." Sparrow looked to Raven.

"What are you doing?" She asked, but Raven silenced her.

"Raven to The Nest. What of this J character?"

"Leave him. We've ran an ID on him in the Tekken Force Data Logs Heron brought back. He was never in the Hon Maru except on that night. Anything he knows, another Tekken Force soldier will know, and be more co-operative. We know where to find relatives if we need to communicate. Obtain a Tekken Force Armoured Vehicle and leave immediately. That is an order. Over."

"Raven to The Nest. Understood. Over." Raven looked to J reluctantly. "Lucky you." He spat each word with indignant anger. "Somebody's looking after you." He turned to Sparrow. "We're leaving." Sparrow nodded, gave a quick scowl to J, and the two ran off into the distance, as low to the ground as possible, silently and quickly. J watched the two pick up Crane, with Raven supporting the wounded man. J watched as the three disappeared onto the horizon. He raised his hand to his mouth, seemingly to cough and expertly hiding Crane's earpiece.

"This is The Nest to Raven. Time is of the essence." He said, imitating a dull mechanical voice as well as he could, picking up his knives. "Good luck. Over." He placed the earpiece in his pocket.

"Nice work. You almost got yourself killed and you had to bluff your way out of a fight. I see what I pay you for." Came an irritated voice. J's head lazily turned as Heihachi emerged from behind a large block of rubble. He was, like J, greyed from ash and burn marks, and his black gee was ruined. He was actually sad about the mess. He liked the gee with the tiger on the back, even more than his wife or his son or his father. More than much of all else the world had to offer. A symbol of his vanity and narcissistic greed. J cracked his knuckles.

"We learnt a lot from that expedition. Much more than you or I had to tell them." J said. "Like it or not, we're stuck together now. And seeing as Mr Drive's new employer has had people scanning this area, I'll assume that he's no longer your friend or my superior. He is the enemy, and you are no longer my employer either. We are equals now." J plucked up one of his knives. It was one he had made himself. The beloved knives he had wielded before, his mother's custom blades had been lost in the explosion. This new one he had carved himself was flung just an inch to the right of Heihachi's ear, causing harsh steel air to brush his balding head. "I brought you back from the brink of death when I myself was about to die, out of the goodness of my own heart, so if you think I'm going to take one solitary minute of your bullshit, I can easily change my tune."

"I'm sorry, Julius, but I can smell lies as well as I tell them." Heihachi replied. "You wouldn't try to kill me unless I was about to do the same. I know why you kept me alive. It was because of Kazuya." J scowled at the name. "I want my son dead. You want my son dead. Two people going after him is always better than one, and luckily for you I do not mind whether I kill him or somebody else does, so long as he dies. I know you too well to know that you actually give a damn about anybody other than yourself."

"I know plenty who hate Kazuya as much as you do." J said. "So don't push your luck." Heihachi smiled rather suddenly. J was taken aback as Heihachi began to laugh quite heartily. He approached the blonde, patting him on the back with the force of a punch.

"You know what, J?" He said, a grand king greeting a kindred spirit. "You're a man after my own heart. You care for nothing but revenge. You live for nothing but chaos. You desire nothing but pain upon those who do you wrong. Morals are merely a convenience to be dropped when they outlive their usefulness. Maybe after all this, you could be the heir to my empire." J notched an eyebrow.

"If a complete lack of morals is what you want from me, you'll be disappointed."

"Oh, please, you're no quintessence of virtue; you're just a cold bastard who happens to stab bad people." Heihachi waved his hand dismissively. "What good deed have you ever done that was not motivated solely by your quest of revenge? Your sister? Your friend Fritz? Your last target, Ling Xiaoyu? All simply steps on your personal ladder; I am right, am I not?" J glared back, not answering for a good moment.

"If I'm as evil you say, I might consider cutting out your tongue." He said. "You don't need that to defeat your son." The response? More laughter.

"Why couldn't I have a son like you?" Came Heihachi's humoured bark.


	2. Dying Flowers

**Chapter 2 - Dying Flowers**

**Disclaimer - Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesteral and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase and a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering just who the fuck you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on the couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing gameshows. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing away your last moments in a miserable home as nothing more than an embarressment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you've spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.**

**Author's Note - So, this chapter may seem rushed, but that's only because it was. The converter for this chapter got bummed so I wrote this sharpish so I didn't forget what I had written. Sorry if it's crap.**

**Anyway, on and on.**

The Same Day, 23:23

The Mishima Gardens

Tokyo, Japan

The beauty of the gardens was amplified both by the darkness of night and by the dullness of the city of Tokyo. Flowers of many hues were planted in patterns across a grass park just less than a furlong both in width and in length, the colours firing out across the land like rainbows colliding and collapsing into each other. A small stream crashed and splashed through the gardens in a slow twist.

Amongst other things, these surroundings showed and elevated the contrast between its two occupants.

Alizee Julius clutched slightly at a note. '_Meet me at Mishima Gardens the moment you wake up.'_ A message from Fritz. She smiled, which only added to the warmth in her. She shared many features with her brother Benni, such as the blazing blue eyes and equal height, and Benni's faked hair colour and length were inspired by her tomboyish shingle, but it was the smaller differences that made them complete opposites. She had more weight than her brother, an attractive form though still with a good deal of fat, as opposed to her brother's stick thin bones, And as for the face; there was no fatigue or hatred in her. When she smiled, and it was often that she did, she smiled fully, with a warm happiness completely alien to Benni's awkward lying twitch. She matched the scenery and beauty of the gardens.

The other occupant didn't, even though he had overseen the building of these very gardens. He had also overseen much of the Mishima Zaibatsu's empire, with a ruthless and callous clasp of iron. His name was Mr Drive.

He walked quickly, with purpose. He crushed several flowers underfoot, but that's what he did best. He may have been a man of stone and iron and glass, but he knew mankind. He knew how to twist it upon itself and destroy it. He was a complete opposite of the flowers – his hair was grey, his suit was grey, even his skin was grey. A pale metallic grey that made him look physically ill. Of course, for once in his life, he actually was.

Harsh concentration furrowed his brow. The pain that rattled his core constantly battered at his ribcage. He didn't have a heart… genuinely. He had lost it to Jinpachi, a bargaining tool for his cooperation, and Mr Drive despised it. He had been called heartless before; a brute who never considered himself any less than above all existence, so Jinpachi made the term literal in some humour.

"Ha, ha, ha." Mr Drive spoke aloud. He had done everything he could to distract himself. He put all his willpower into certain acts he hoped would distract him from the searing agony. He gave up smoking in record speed. He took up weight lifting, which made his short body a lot bulkier than usual. He spent hours reading book upon book, until he could tell Shakespeare from Marlowe and _still _the agony was there. He did everything from knitting to quantum study, from watercolours to jogging, from gardening to philosophy, all in attempt to escape from the pain and it was still there.

He kept walking in his fast paced way until he saw Alizee. She didn't know that he was here, but that was to change.

"Julius-chan."

Alizee's head turned slowly, surprised but smiling politely at him. She waved a small wave then turned fully to face him. "Yeah?" A lower voice than Mr Drive expected, but he simply processed the information and filed it away in his machine-like way.

"You are here by request of Captain Coster." He said. It wasn't a query, or a guess. It was merely a statement that Alizee nodded to.

"Yep." She sighed at the mention of him, looking back out to the gardens. "The recovery was a bit longer than expected, but it was a brutal fight. Don't really care anyway. The tournament wasn't too big a deal to me."

"He was to propose to you." Alizee's mind clicked slightly. She looked to Mr Drive, trying to place his face. A suspicion and fear crept its way into her mind.

"He already did…" She answered. "Who are you, anyw…"

"Aren't you a little young for him?" Mr Drive asked, as too something clicked in his mind. Alizee nodded.

"You sound like my brother. So, there was a little age gap…"

"Ten years."

"… eleven…" Alizee whirled around. "Look, just who in god's name are you?" Mr Drive didn't even seem to acknowledge the question, but he paused as if his mind had to switch from asking questions to answering them, like gears in a car.

"Mr Drive." He answered. "I was both your fiancé's superior and your brother's." Alizee's brain began to scream. She had heard the name little, but what Fritz had reluctantly told her was not good.

"Why are you here?" Suddenly, Mr Drive changed. His face had a constant blank stare, but now his eyes lit up slightly. His eyes flashed as he realised that now he had the opportunity to do what he loved most; causing pain.

"There's only one reason Tekken Force superiors contact a soldier's loved ones." He never liked the two anyway. "Both Fritz Coster and Benni Julius were killed five days ago in an explosion."

* * *

"… you're kidding!"

Xiaoyu could only wish that she was.

"You've finally snapped!"

"You've gone!"

"Are you serious?" The volume in Miharu's voice caused the rusty phone to crackle with static, and Xiaoyu bit her lip. "Are you deadly serious?" The darkness of the half-destroyed room added to the derelict, but the Manji clan didn't use this particular base often, so they simply let it fall into disrepair. Yoshimitsu told her that it would take more than a day to get to the Manji Valley where the rest of the clan awaited, so the five would stay here for the time being. Her, Yoshimitsu, his two fellow Clan members, and _the other one _as Yoshimitsu called him to Xiaoyu's chagrin.

"Xiao!" Miharu shouted again, bringing Xiaoyu from her thoughts. On the other end of the line, the red headed girl was nearly crushing the phone. She almost always stood by Xiaoyu; many had tried to bring Xiaoyu down, calling her stupid or insane or childish, and Miharu had always been a shield, because she was her friend, but _this?_ This was madness.

"I know…" Xiaoyu almost read her thoughts, simply murmuring. "I know it's crazy, but it's just the way it worked out." She pushed her back against the wall, both in the real world and metaphorically in this argument. "I'm staying with S as long as I need to. I've told you why and that's final."

"But… but…" Miharu stuttered, as if she didn't need to explain. "HE KIDNAPPED YOU!"

"It was an escorting, not a kidnapping…"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT WAS!" Miharu's voice got louder. She wasn't going to let Xiaoyu interrupt and throw logic completely out of the window. On another day, Miharu would've been softer, but she thought, she felt, she _knew _Xiaoyu was in danger. She was going to try to save her, and if she had to hurt her feelings by gall she would. "AND ALL FOUR OF THEM TRIED TO KILL YOU AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER!"

"Only C, really. I think J knocked me out, once, but never S."

"Oh, fucking fantastic, only one of them tried to kill you; that makes it all alright!" Miharu seethed. "DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF, XIAOYU?"

"Mi…" Xiaoyu stopped her friend. She turned her head. Yoshimitsu stood there, tapping his wrist as if it were a watch. She sighed. She didn't like having to lie about her whereabouts. Lying to her best friend made it worse, but having to do it in a time limit was almost too much to bear. But Yoshimitsu was insistent. " – I have to go. I probably won't phone again, and you won't see me until I'm sure nobody's looking for us."

"Xiaoyu, I swear to God…" Miharu began, but she was cut off immediately by a surge that sent the phone fizzing. Xiaoyu dropped the receiver in fright, and backed away slightly. That was the only light in the room, the rest coming in from the outside, one of the few windows in the four storey building.

"Did you tell her anything about the Manji Clan?" Came the rattling voice.

"No." Xiaoyu said. "As far as she knows, I'm staying with S. It's at least partially true." She turned to face the skull-faced… thing. "You've told me before, but I still need to know. Why can't I just see her, or any other of my friends?"

"The Tekken Force and this 'Mr Drive' will be looking for you, and not to hand over the Zaibatsu to you." Came the same explanation as the last time.

"I'm a good fighter. So's Miharu. So's my grandpa" Xiaoyu reminded Yoshimitsu. "Better than most Tekken Force soldiers. You know this as well as I do."

"I didn't know that the Tekken Force attacked in small manageable groups and didn't carry guns around." Yoshimitsu sighed slightly.

"She has me."

The two looked to the door. He looked taller in the light than he actually was. His fresh face was muddied and sweaty, hidden slightly by brown hair that fell across his crown and brow, a tangled mess that was dangerously close to becoming a singular clump. The usually soft hazel eyes held a strong firmness now. He scratched his arm, the fingers digging into the blue shirt. He gave the impression of shortness with his youthful features, though in fact he was fairly tall. His hakama trailed the ground slightly. Yoshimitsu scowled.

"That is also why she cannot go alone." He said. "You'd be going with her."

"Look;" Xiaoyu interrupted. "- I know you two don't have a great history…"

"He tried to stab me." S pointed out.

"He shot me." Yoshimitsu reminded her.

"- but surely you can see, Yoshimitsu, that he means me no harm." She finished. Yoshimitsu turned to S.

"He's Tekken Force." He said, beginning to walk away. "Harm follows him whether he means it or not. We leave at sun-up." He got to the door.

"At least… let me go somewhere. It's on the way, and I have a personal errand there." Xiaoyu said. Yoshimitsu instinctively turned to S, but he was blinking. He was as surprised as Yoshimitsu was.

"Where?" He asked.

"An apartment of a friend."

"Benni?" S asked. "Why?" Xiaoyu didn't answer for a moment, but there was not silence, as Yoshimitsu sighed.

"I see I cannot dissuade you, though we will have to leave even earlier." He explained. "I'll see you in the morning." He left the two. S sighed.

"Xiaoyu?" He asked. "What's at his apartment that you need?"

"Nothing concrete." She finally said. "Look, S…"

"Takeshi." He reminded her. "I don't want you to call me 'S' anymore."

"… J was…" Xiaoyu pushed her back against the wall and slid down. "I don't know. I want to find out what he was." She looked back to Takeshi. "He was like an older brother. He took everything for me. Every stone, every snipe, every volley of bullets." She bit her lip slightly. "I just want to know why. Who he was, and why he did was he did."

She stood up and left the room. Takeshi watched her leave, his brow rutted in pain. _What about everything _I_ took for you?_

* * *

Everything…

… just…

… burst.

Alizee literally started to choke. Her lungs coiled and twisted in fright. Her stomach knotted again and again. Her heart started to hammer wildly and desperately at her ribcage. Everything in her body just screamed '_No, this has got to be a nightmare! Don't let this be real! Just crawl into your mind and escape into a fantasy where this didn't happen!'_ She began to shake, gulping and in agony.

"Quite tragic." Came Mr Drive's voice though a wave, muffled by the horror in Alizee's heart, but while his face remained blank he couldn't disguise the delight in his voice, and she scowled.

"SHUT UP!" She pushed herself onto the ground, clasping her ears with her hands. "YOU'RE LYING! IT CAN'T HAVE HAPPENED!"

"Oh, but it did." He said. "And I know who was responsible." Alizee looked into the starry sky, trying desperately to distract herself, convince herself that she wasn't hearing this. "I believe Benni has mentioned a 'Kazuya Mishima' to you once. Defeating him is a common goal, and I would be most honoured if you took this offer of work seriously."

"…" Alizee shook slightly. "… leave me alone." However, her ears pricked up. She wanted to be alone, but her brain demanded more information. Mr Drive immediately saw this. His unchanging blank slate face gave a twitch.

"I see that want for revenge is an inherited trait in your family. Your brother would be proud." He extended a hand, which Alizee simply stared at. "I will explain in further detail tomorrow. I will give you your privacy for tonight, though come to the Mishima Zaibatsu."

Mr Drive turned on his heel, his face as blank as it ever was, leaving Alizee to burst into tears again, though inwardly he smirked. Another flower crushed under his foot. He knew his words were true; Alizee may seem and may try to be a lot less cold than her brother, but bad blood is most rife in families. Yes, it would've destroyed Fritz if he were alive now, but Mr Drive despised Fritz like the plague; turning the love of his life into a younger Benni would be a final and appropriate spit in his grave.

"Mr Drive, sir."

Mr Drive stopped, but he took his time to face the Owl Tekken Soldier who addressed him. The Owl was accompanied by a Falcon, whose armour was greatly damaged. The Owl pushed the Falcon forward, who tentatively walked towards Mr Drive.

"I was told to tell you and only you, sir." Came a nervous voice. Mr Drive looked to the Owl and nodded. The Owl nodded back and walked a short distance away. "Heihachi Mishima is alive." Mr Drive didn't react, just processed the information, but the Falcon noticed that he had completely stiffened.

"Who told you this?" He asked shakily. The Falcon gulped.

"A man who called himself 'J'." He said. "… but… but that could be anyone. How many people in the Tekken Force, nay the world, call themselves J."

"Many, but I know which one it is anyway." Mr Drive's voice regained its still and calm monotone, but it had become angrily and more demonic. His head turned to the Falcon. "Your name, Falcon?"

"A, sir."

"Well, A, I'm glad you have told me this." He said. "Go to the main barracks for some new equipment." The Falcon was stunned. Then, he pinched himself to find that he wasn't dreaming.

"Thank you, sir!" He bowed, and turned to walk away. Mr Drive looked to the Owl as A walked away. The Owl came closer.

"I want him wiped off the face of the earth." Mr Drive whispered. "Kill him, delete all files on him, burn his house down, kill any family members he may have, and anything I am yet to mention."

* * *

_Stockholm Syndrome Recap – The Main Story_

_The first mistake, and possibly the worst, was to entrust this, an incredibly delicate mission to truly deprive Jin Kazama of all his allies… to those four._

_Hawk Squad Eleven. A legend in the Tekken Force, for all the wrong reasons. Their commanding officer, Fritz Coster, was a cowardly midget who didn't even know a single martial art, preferring to hang back and fire with his trusty and worryingly large collection of guns. The considered-to-be-second-in-command, Benni Julius, was less a wild card and more an entire deck of chaotic danger. Then there was that 'thing', Bill Williamson, essentially a shaved ape who's incredibly strong, incredibly nasty and incredibly dim. To make matters worse, Takeshi Sakura, the smartest and most competent of the four, was an obscenely merciful and kind youth, not Tekken Force material in the slightest, and he wasn't exceptionally bright himself._

_It was them who were charged with dishing out the final emotional blow that would bring Jin to the King of Iron Fist Tournament 4. The kidnap, escorting and employment of Ling Xiaoyu, hoping to drive her to defeat her school-friend and crush his spirit once and for all._

_It went badly from the start._

_Fritz was the first to mess up; his panicky impulses made the cover story that they were from the Ford Motor Company, who wanted Xiaoyu to compete in the King of Iron Fist and destroy their financial rival Mishima Zaibatsu, or witness Jin's death. Naturally, she didn't believe that._

_Next to crack under the pressure was Benni, whose grudge for both the G Corporation and Kazuya Mishima spilled into a long, bloody battle of wills that ended up both sending the façade collapsing entirely (not that it was particularly strong to begin with) and getting his own sister Liz involved with the whole scheme, and very nearly killed._

_Takeshi had troubles of his own. He felt strongly defensive for Ling Xiaoyu, to the point when he seemed to fall in love, and when the orders changed from 'Escort Ling Xiaoyu' to 'Kill Ling Xiaoyu' he blankly refused for any of his colleagues to do so, though Fritz and Benni both had Liz's life depending on this assassination._

_It ended as badly as it started. When the JACK robots attacked the Hon Maru, both Fritz and Benni were inside at the time, and they left behind a comatose Liz, a defenceless Takeshi and Xiaoyu, and an as-per-usual lost-looking Bill._

_It went badly from the start, right up until the end._


	3. Knife Shine

**Chapter 3 –**** Knife Shine**

**Disclaimer - Tee hee, I just farted.**

**Author's Note - Another one, with a cameo from Razer Athane, created by... um... Razer Athane. If you haven't read something by her AH HA HA HA no you have.**

****

**

* * *

**

Tokyo

04:24

"Impossible. I am Heihachi Mishima. When they see me, they will fall at my feet and beg for me back."

Benni sighed slightly, looking up to the night sky. The industrial side-effects of Tokyo were prevalent, the sky being nothing but brown, with the yellow and white lights of the city breaking the darkness apart into erratic, unrecognisable shapes. He scanned the windows, looking for a watcher. No silhouettes. He sighed slightly.

"Until we are proven otherwise, Mr Drive, and the Tekken Zaibatsu, is our enemy." He explained. "Kazuya is the most likely new leader, and he won't be happy with our presence, but anyone else is also going to try and get rid of you. You can't just walk in and expect them all to bow down and give you back your empire."

"And telling Mr Drive that we're still alive does what in our favour?" Heihachi asked. Benni looked down the street tentatively.

"He'll consider us important." He said, finally sure that no one was following them. "He'll take us into account at every turn, and whatever he's planning will be affected by our presence." Heihachi smirked.

"Knowing that we're still out there somewhere doesn't mean he knows where we are…" He finished Benni. "- and he'll think that we have a place in all this; for all he knows there are a myriad facts I haven't told him, and he'll want to know everything." Chuckling slightly, he slapped Benni harshly on the back. "You're playing him like a fish!"

"He can't kill us." Benni completed his statement. "We're too important, so we're free to do whatever we want, and wait for the opportune moment to strike." He looked into the middle distance, rubbing his knuckles together to faze away the cold that whipped at him. "Waiting has never been a strong point of mine, but its all we can do. The Tekken Force is an army, and at the top is a methodical sociopath; we can't afford to draw ourselves too much attention."

"I see your point." Heihachi said. "Though what do we do until we can hit him?"

"Well, I have some errands to run." Benni said. "I want to make sure that Liz will be…" He paused. Heihachi watched as his blue eyes glazed over and went dead, staring at the ground. He went completely motionless, stiff as a board, unmoving as a rock. Then they flashed suddenly as he looked up. He then took a few steps back, before running as if dogs were biting at his heels.

"Julius?" Heihachi asked, but he couldn't quite keep speed. Benni had a goal in his heart, and it pushed him so hard that it seemed that any obstacle in his path would simply crumble under his desperate feet.

Benni's brain wasn't thinking. It wasn't functioning properly. It was just telling him to vaguely run to an unknown target. His eyes darted every street he passed in desperate methodical madness. Then he saw it. A phone box, the glass cube that held the information he needed right now. He ran over, finding it to be occupied. He ignored the existence of the other user almost entirely, only considering them enough to throw them away as he put the phone on hold. He jammed the door shut as he fumbled a number he could barely remember. The darkness of the night seemed to surround him as he shook in fear.

"Mishima Main Hospital. How may I help?" Came a sweet, soothing voice.

"Where's Alizee Julius right now?" Benni growled in a tone completely parallel to the receptionist's.

"I'll check for you…" Came the voice again, which Benni listened to as if the meaning of life was in her lips. "… let's see… yes, Julius-san, she left just a few hours ago… the current hospital patron himself was asking about her too… and who may I ask…"

All the receptionist heard was a tone, telling her that the caller had hung up. In fact, he had accidentally snapped the phone in half in his palm as it clenched. He knew. He just knew. He knew who the hospital patron was. He knew that he would never see his sister again. He knew that now he had messed up the one thing his parents asked him to do. Take care of Alizee. And he had messed it up.

"I was using that, you bastard!"

Benni dropped his hands limply by his side.

"Hey! Are you listening to me?"

He couldn't cry.

"Hey! HEY!"

He had never cried.

"GET OUT OF THERE, YOU DUMB FUCK!"

He only had one response for this kind of situation.

"HEY! YOU!"

Benni looked up, his fists clenched. The woman he had thrown out of the phone box stopped shouting, staring at his snarling, gritted face, huffing and growling as if he was a slobbering demon. He raised a fist, and she backed away as his hand planted itself straight through the glass.

* * *

Apartment 375

Katte Apartments, rooms vacant

04:59

"Somebody has already been here."

The apartment was half-wrecked. It was only a small apartment; a small futon on the floor, with a blanket scrunched up and torn lying on it, a portable television that was on the floor, screen broken and some plastic shattered on the floor. A desk with all the drawers open and hanging limply. Everything the Julius siblings had ever used was on the floor. Bits of paper, photographs, discarded beer cans, some key-rings and other oddities that they may have owned for novelty's sake. Yoshimitsu looked to Takeshi, who blurrily rubbed his eyes.

"Tekken Force?"

"No." Takeshi answered bluntly. "They would leave everything as it was. They'd find what they were looking for and leave efficiently. No, this is somebody else's handiwork."

"It was Liz." Came Xiaoyu's answer. Both Yoshimitsu and Takeshi looked to her, then to what she was looking at. A small framed photograph that had been torn apart. There was an irritated looking Benni on a completely clean side, then about half of Liz's left leg, and everything else was simply the brown plywood from the frame. She looked to her two companions, then nodded to the floor. "They're all like this. She must've come back, ripped all the photos of C away, maybe to remember him."

"Then why didn't she get any pictures of Benni?" Takeshi asked. Xiaoyu shrugged her shoulders.

"God knows." She said. "I don't think she's considering coming back to tell us the answer, though." She pulled the photograph out of the frame, examining it. "Benni… wasn't always this miserable, was he?" She looked to Takeshi. His mouth opened slowly.

_He was. He hated everything and everyone. He didn't care about you or me or Liz or the world in general._

"He didn't seem to be so when you were nearer." Takeshi lied. His stomach crawled, feeling a metaphorical bullet tear slowly through it, causing it to coil. Xiaoyu smiled slightly, and Takeshi wanted to wince in pain. Making her happy, distancing her from him, was going to be the death of him, he could feel it. She looked around slowly and stepped towards the desk. She placed her hands on one of the open drawers, and ran her hands along the wood. A gleam caught her attention, and she looked into the drawer. There was a box, tiny in height but large in width and length; for its size it was incredibly heavy, dragging her hands down desperately. The wood was more red than brown and shone slightly, varnished with profession. She opened it tentatively, and gasped slightly.

"This must be Benni's box." She murmured.

There they were. Shining like stars. Clasped in two of six clamps, with the lost silhouettes of the absent four yellowing the wood beneath them. The two that were there were the size of Xiaoyu's forearm each, with a small slit running along the straighter edge to catch and sting. The handles were banded with duct tape, but it was clear that somebody had made them with more than passion, or even love. Something stronger She pawed at the hilts, and she could swear she was hearing voices; a soothing voice that convinced her that these weren't meant to be used as other of their kind. _Don't be worried by us._ They chimed. _We're not murderers. We're meant to save, not kill. _They gleamed slightly and calmly. She pulled them out of the box, and watched them shine.

"Xiaoyu, what's in it?"

"Not much." Xiaoyu nervously answered, putting the knives back in the box. They shouted back. _Xiaoyu, you need us._ They said. _Benni's pair will destroy him. Liz's knives have gone wrong. We're the last hope. _Xiaoyu looked to them nervously, and almost answered back. However, she decided not to. She'd take them with her though. She felt that she had to, though her brain told her that if she was hearing voices in her mind then getting a pair of sharp knives was not a good idea. She told it to shut up, distracted by another photograph.

She could tell that all the others in the room were Liz's, but this one was one Benni owned. She didn't even have to guess. Both of them looked so much like him. The thin lightish brown hair. The height. Even the blue eyes. It was simple. The fatigue in the eyes was missing, but that was it. Benni's parents looked too much like him to be true. She turned the photograph over, to see a small bit of writing. Clumsy scribbling, but legible.

_Benni, these knives, all of them, were made by your parents. You'll know whose was whose. Your father's are slightly longer, and mine are that bit sharper, but it's the ones that we made together that we wanted you to have. Your dad doesn't think the day when you'll need them will come but something's making my arm hairs stand. I'm scared. For you, and your sister. Call me paranoid but just don't forget my voice. Make sure that you and Alizee are safe. These knives will help._

_I love you._

The word 'mother' at the end was slightly blurred, as if somebody had thumbed it over and over.

_He didn't choose the right ones._

"Shut up..." Xiaoyu seethed slightly. Takeshi turned around.

"What?" He asked. Xiaoyu went red.

"Not you, I was talking to the..." She was saved from the embarrassment when Yoshimitsu huffed slightly.

"We don't have time for this." He said. "The Tekken Force will be closing in on us. We've got to get the Manji Valley right away." A chill down his spine suddenly alerted him. He drew his katana. "Somebody's watching us…"

* * *

The Rooftop

Soo Industrial Consultancies

05:00

The night wasn't ideal. The brown skies made Raven that little more visible than he liked to be. His black clothes weren't easy to make out, but he'd rather completely invisible than almost. Sparrow sat next to him, both of them observing the three occupants of the apartment they watched. She scratched her arm restlessly, shifting slightly again and again.

"Something on your mind?" He asked her. Sparrow kept her eyes on the apartment but nodded.

"Raven… this is all wrong." She whispered.

"Pardon?"

"Well, with everything going on, can't you feel something in the air?" She asked him. "That J guy, for a start; I mean, how the hell did he manage to imitate the admin perfectly?" She questioned. "And now, just as we know that Mr Drive's desperately hiding something, we're sent to some fucking hole of an apartment in the middle of Tokyo… I mean, I guess it's important; the Nest told us to come here, but why?" Raven shook his head.

"Don't worry, Sparrow. In due time, we'll know." He reassured her. "Though in your defense I'd rather know right now than later." A small beep. He looked to Sparrow, who pressed the button on her earpiece.

"Sparrow receiving, over." She said. Then her mouth fell open. "S-sir." She gasped. "I-I didn't think you'd... you'd…" She looked to Raven, who shrugged his shoulders, and then she looked back. "Right now? Errr… nothing. Just looking at photos and… no, no blonde woman there, just… what?" Raven then turned back to the apartment. He watched as the swordsman suddenly tensed up, and drew his katana. Raven seethed. They knew they were there now. Raven looked to Sparrow.

"Sparrow, they know we're here." He said. Sparrow looked to him.

"Did you catch that, over?" She said to the microphone. "… yeah they, they know that we're there... right. Umm, I'll just… we really can't…" She looked over to Raven, clenched her fingers around the microphone. "They want us to engage, get a voice clip from each one, then leave." Raven's eyebrow crooked.

"An odd choice of commands." He noted. "We've both got cameras, I think that…"

"Heat vision cameras, Raven, and the night vision will obscure them so they aren't recognizable." Sparrow said. "And as for the audio… well, Big Bird insisted."

"Big Bird? Big Bird's involved now?" Raven asked, astounded. Big Bird, the highest authority in The Nest, had never been directly involved with… anything. He spoke entirely through errand runners who were only ever used once. Even his second-in-command, Eagle, had only ever seen him maybe twice in the course of ten years, and Eagle was generally given control over the larger operations where an individual agent's judgment was not considered just enough authority. To be involved personally… Raven's hairs stood up on his arms. His red-headed accomplice nodded, before unclenching her hands on the microphone.

"Confirm orders, Eagle… orders received… Sparrow out." She nodded to Raven. "You in first." Raven pushed himself up, a little confused by Sparrow's reluctance to lead in. She was the one they kept contacting, and she was a perfectly independent agent, but she was always looking to him to leap first. He rolled his shoulders, crackling slightly, and bending his knees.

"Let's go." Then he felt the wind rush past his hair, then the glass fell away from him. He rolled over, the sword that was swung in his direction just avoiding him. He immediately brought his knee up into the swordsman's stomach. His elbow crashed onto the stooped figure's back, flipping him over. He looked to the two younger people; a girl and a boy, both clenching their fists. "Please do not resist any longer. We are only here to…"

"Is this one of your friends?" Came an angry growl. Raven poked his earpiece, capturing the voice, but then he leapt away from the sword that slashed from underneath him. Then he saw Yoshimitsu's face and had to pause at the sight of the skull staring back at him. Then he pointed his sword straight to Raven's face. "Don't move."

"Put the sword down!" Came an approaching voice, then Sparrow's flying form smashed into Yoshimitsu, throwing him away. She stood up quickly, and looked to the other two. "Now who are you? Tell me!" The man in the hakama raised his fists.

"You first." He said. Raven pressed his earpiece, then came in line with Sparrow.

"Please don't this any more difficult than this needs to be and answer the question." He said, but he suddenly threw his hand over his face. Takeshi's fist was rolled away by the block, and Raven's kick drove into the back of his leg. His body spun, but Raven didn't see the uppercut until it hit him, throwing him into Sparrow and knocking the two over. He kicked out with both feet, but Takeshi simply blocked it, and grabbed Raven by the shirt.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, pulling Raven up. Sparrow snarled.

"Argh! This is J all over again!" She seethed, before rolling to Takeshi's left. He dropped Raven to block her, and immediately regretted it. Raven punched Takeshi twice in the kidney, then pushed him away.

"How do you know J?"

Both Raven and Sparrow whirled around to the third occupant of the apartment. A young girl, young enough to be in high school. Raven pressed his earpiece again, capturing the last voice needed, then looked to her.

"We met. It didn't go well. Yourself?" He said calmly. Sparrow looked to him.

"What are you doing, Raven?" She asked, but he hushed her, and looked back to Xiaoyu, who uncomfortably scratched her arm.

"He is… was… a friend of mine." She said. "It's complicated."

"Tell me anyway." He said. Then he felt the sword come whirling from behind him. He ducked just in time, and he rolled out of the way of Yoshimitsu's stomp.

"WE DON'T HAVE TIME, XIAOYU!" He shouted, gesturing to Takeshi, and the two ran past them. Xiaoyu suddenly pushed forward, but Yoshimitsu stopped her, grabbing her. "WE'RE LEAVING!" Xiaoyu drove her feet down.

"I'M NOT!" She screamed, punching him, and trying to get back to Raven, who watched in confusion. Yoshimitsu groaned loudly. Takeshi simply let her past, and gave Yoshimitsu a quick nasty glance. The skeleton scowled.

"Fine…" He said. "- I'll leave, and you'll never know how to save Jin Kazama."

"What?" Xiaoyu whirled around. Takeshi too turned around.

"Now you want to come with me." Yoshimitsu said simply. "Come on!"

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?" Sparrow said. Xiaoyu looked to Raven.

"I'll meet you someplace else…" She said. "- just… um, sorry…" Raven's protocol told him to demand that she come with him, but something told him that it would work for them that Xiaoyu was to leave. He nodded.

"Sparrow." He said. "We've got what we needed. That'll do." He then turned to the broken window. Sparrow sighed.

"You've got to be fucking…" She sighed irritably. "Fine. Have it your way, but I'm sure that J's going to be a huge part of this." She warned him, before leaping into the night sky. He watched her go, then he left too, making a mental note to ask The Nest about all this.

* * *

Tokyo

05:02

"Hwoarang, I know that bike was really important to you, but…" The brown haired woman glanced to her left. "- I think that going after him would be really stupid."

"Razer, you know what _was_ stupid?" Hwoarang told her. "Breaking my bike! He's going to get it; I don't care how big he is! I've taken on ten men without a scratch, you know that!"

"He's roughly the size of ten men!" She replied. "He'll be wearing your spinal column as a scarf, don't go!" But the red-head ignored her, walking away.

"Hey, big boy!" He shouted. "You've done something very_ very_ stupid, and you're going to fucking pay." The figure, who was walking away, turned around. He had short black hair and a big round face that looked like a melon on top of a fridge. Hwoarang was taller than most people and he didn't even reach the guy's shoulders. He was almost as wide as two people standing next to each other and his hands looked like spades. And on his face was a black expression, blanker than even a brick wall. His tuxedo was covered in ashes, mud and god knows what else.

"Errmm…" Came a low rumble, and Hwoarang smirked.

"What, are you too dumb to talk?" He taunted, before suddenly whacking his foot across the figure's head, before standing straight. Then pain rocketed up his leg, and he screamed in agony.

"Hwoarang?" Razer stepped forward.

"I think I broke my foot on his dumb fucking face!" Came the reply. Then he felt a hand grab his jacket from the back. He was suddenly lifted about six feet off the ground. The figure cleared his throat.

"Have you seen this man?" Came the low rumble, and then the spade-like hand went into a pocket of the smart tuxedo. He fished out a crumpled up piece of paper. Hwoarang took a good hard look at it and raised an eyebrow. While the drawing was done with children's crayons, it was actually, to his surprise, really good. An incredibly detailed drawing of a heterochromatic fat man with a goatee, every inch of his face well shaded and detailed, even with the name 'Fritz Coster' written underneath very legibly. He looked back to the giant. He did not look like he could write, never mind draw.

"Ummm… no?" He nervously said. Then he instantly regretted it, as he was thrown casually away like a child's toy. He crashed into the pavement at blinding speed, rolling over several times and landing at the feet of an astounded Razer.

"Hwoarang… don't say no to people twice your size." She remarked as he moaned slightly.

"Oh well." Came the giant's rumble, then he walked over to a passing cat. "Have you seen this man?" He asked the confused animal.

* * *

It was among the most bizarre scenes Heihachi had ever seen.

Benni was completely and utterly out of control. His brain was simply shouting one single command; destroy. Destroy. Destroy. His foot was driven into the broken glass again and again, with the shards piercing his foot and leg causing blood to spill easily away, but he was long past caring. He threw a metal bar away, and picked up another that he used to bash at some fizzing box, a metal block that was already completely buckled out of shape. It sparked dangerously and angrily, as if Benni's rage was spilling into everything around him.

"ARGH!" He suddenly screamed, dropping to his knees, pushing a hand into a glass splinter as he raised his other, clenching it and bringing the metal bar back onto the largest piece of glass, then onto the shards to broke into, then onto the splinters they broke into, then onto the slivers and the bits and the shavings. "ARGH!" More screaming.

Then Heihachi saw the scene surrounding; the closest person was on the floor, a woman whose face was bleeding heavily, as she simply stared at the rampaging Italian on his knees, screaming to the heavens in blind and impotent fury. Benni then dramatically stood up, looking to the line of phone boxes the one he had destroyed once belonged to. He grabbed the nearest one and rattled it, causing it to rock off the ground. Then it fell, and the next and the next, a great domino effect that spilt glass and metal all along the street. Benni drove his foot into the nearest one, nobody brave or stupid enough to try and stop him. His screaming and yelling and constant destruction carried on for what seemed like hours, until finally, his hands and feet caked in blood, self-inflicted cuts and glass, he came to a halt, his nostrils flaring with every breath. Heihachi walked forward.

"Julius, that was most…" He searched for the words, but Benni turned around.

"Change of plans!" Benni snarled. "We find Kazuya! We find Mr Drive! We kill them!" He looked to Heihachi. "And only _I _get to kill them, or I kill you too! Understand?" Heihachi said nothing for a moment, stunned at the fact that somebody would talk to him like that, but simply nodded.

* * *

**Benni Julius has never been a stable or peaceful individual. Essentially a raging bull in a man's body, he is seemingly only motivated by his own boiling anger and hatred of the G Corporation. As far as he's concerned, his hatred is completely justified; his father had invented and developed Genocell for the G Corporation, but was reluctant to sell the formula. The G Corporation decided that they'd simply take the materials by force, and killed both of Benni's parents, only to find that the secret was an elusive genome was in the blood of the scientist, and was now completely lost…**

… **seemingly.**

**Benni never quite knew of Genocell, or its purpose, but he's never really been bothered about reasons. All he needs to know is that the G Corporation destroyed his childhood and left him with only his younger sister and his two legs, and he's devoted his life to annihilating anyone and everyone who stands between him and the people who butchered his parents. It's been a long time since he saw his home in Italy collapse and burn, almost twenty years, and when he discovered Kazuya, who has his own reasons to go after the Italian, he projected every bit of anger and rage into a bloody revenge mission on Kazuya, and a few in-between.**

**This is reflected in his personality; volatile, dangerously hot-headed and impulsive. He neither thinks about his actions or cares. He has few friends; his relationship to his sister's boyfriend, his commanding officer Fritz Coster, was one of obeying orders but only when they convenience him. The closest anyone's ever got to breaking through the hard shell that is his mental psyche was Ling Xiaoyu, and even then he considered her less as a friend and more a means to an end, which is to crush anyone unfortunate enough to be on his blacklist.**


End file.
